The essential guide to bars with wifi

You’ve been there before: unable to work at home, you pop in to the local coffee shop to soak up the wifi and get yourself focused with a cup of joe. The next thing you know, you’re on your third cup, you’ve got the shakes and somehow still aren’t done working. You’ve got to take the edge off somehow, but still don’t want to go home. What’s a girl to do? Fortunately for you, Brooklyn is home to bars that offer wifi AND open early enough to get you back in balance. Happy hour, here you come!

REBAR
147 Front St. (at Jay) DUMBO
Happy Hour: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sure you could research your thesis paper and enjoy the free wifi floating around DUMBO when it’s all pretty and summery. What if it’s raining though? What if it’s (ugh) January? You pop in to reBar with that laptop of yours and start warming yourself up with two dollars chopped off the price of tap beer. Provided you aren’t easily distracted by loud music, that paper you’ve been dreading will be done by the middle of the afternoon. Just be sure to proofread it.

BLACK SWAN
1048 Bedford Ave. (at Lafayette) Bed-Stuy
Happy Hour: 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
This gastropub will help you turn your unfocused news bits into a rock solid inverted pyramid. Expound on the meaning of journalism to your bartender while sipping two-for-one well drinks and dollar-off drafts. Show up before it’s too busy and the bartender will be kind enough to plug in your laptop behind the bar. Stay away from the $3 shots though, they could be the death of you.

BROKLYN ICE HOUSE
318 Van Brunt St. (between Pioneer and King) Red Hook
Happy Hour: noon to 8 p.m.
Hide out from your deadlines in Brooklyn’s most difficult to reach neighborhood. This low-key dive will allow you to slay the deadline beast with the power of $2 PBRs, thanks to a dollar being chopped off every beer and (and cocktail). Not only that, but you can load up on brain food in the form of two pulled pork sandwiches for $5. Make sure your battery is powered up though, because they’re not big on outlets.

MISSION DOLORES
249 4th Ave. (between President and Carroll) Park Slope
Happy Hour: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
You’ll have to hang around the coffee shop a little longer than you would as compared to some of the other bars on this list, but once you’re drinking the wide selection of draft beers at a dollar off their normal price, you’ll even yourself out in no time. You can sit at the bar in darkness if you have writer’s block, or enjoy the open ceiling in the front of the bar if you’re happy and productive. If drafting those PowerPoint slides proves too boring, you can always distract yourself with a game of pinball.

LUCKYDOG
303 Bedford Ave. (between S. 1st and S. 2nd) Williamsburg
Happy Hour: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
You tell yourself that taking the dog for a walk will help you clear your head and let you get the ending to your prize-winning fiction just right. Why would you let Fido have all the fun though when you can bring him to Williamsburg’s dog-friendly drinkery? Tip back enough to justify your “it was all a dream” ending, it’ll be easy to with a dollar off all draft beers, $3 bottles of Lonestar, $3 well drinks, a $5 High Life and Evan Williams combo and $2 cans of PBR and Schaefer.

THE MARK BAR
1025 Manhattan Ave. (between Green and Freeman) Greenpoint
Happy Hour: 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Mark Bar could win the prize for best bar on this list, even if you have to travel a little for it. Putting aside the $3 drafts and bottles for a moment, it’s also warm and it’s comfortable. Back to the best part though: there are $3 drafts and bottles. Unless you’re Hunter S. Thompson or Christopher Hitchens, I’d come here with work that doesn’t have a pressing deadline. If it does, and your policy paper ends up having a paragraph about how you haven’t had sex in six months, don’t come crying to me.

Maybe there are some days when you don’t want to have to leave the place you’re at to give yourself heart palpitations by suddenly changing from caffeine to alcohol. I understand. It’s effing cold out there, mang. Fortunately for you, cozy neighborhood joint South 4th Bar offers both a bartop AND tables to work from. Happy Hour starts at 4 and offers $1 off draft beers and $3 well drinks. It starts a bit late, but console yourself with $4 Yuengling drafts while you wait.

11 Comment

Outpost Lounge on Fulton St [Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy] is also a coffee shop/bar – with wine and beer. AND Bedford Hill, the lovely location to your Brokelandia spoof, is getting beer and wine on Friday and offering extended hours on the weekend. Beer taps are officially in place. :)

739 Franklin for those of us on the Crown Heights side of Prospect Heights. They have big windows that open onto the street and a decent beer selection. It’s usually pretty quiet too. Also Little Zeldas across the street serves espresso beverages and booze.